1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to electronic authentication.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many of the emerging applications require, or will require a level of security and authentication to be practical. These applications might include mobile banking, social networking, transferring of personal data, verification of identity, granting of access, etc. Consumers and businesses alike need easy to use but highly secure methods for authenticating that a specific device, person, or account, is entering a specific transaction, connection, contract, physical location, or application. For example, in mobile banking, it is important to know that money would be transferred securely between only the parties intended. Convention banking, legal contracts, and everyday personal communications have used personal signatures to authenticate transactions and prevent fraud effectively for centuries. A similarly effective, time-tested, universal method for authentication in the digital world of electronic transactions is needed. Additionally, the use of physical locks and keys, electronic locks with PINs, security codes and passwords, iris scans, and fingerprint readers, are cumbersome and intrusive, and not user friendly. An easier, less cumbersome, universal system that allows similar or better levels of security, authentication, and access as do these traditional security methods is needed but non-existent.
Remote authentication is a problem. When a secure site receives a request for secure data or access to the secure site over a network from a remote location, the secure site must be certain that the requestor has authorization to access the site or receive the data. Widespread theft of passwords and other electronic authentication mechanisms has rendered secure sites vulnerable to fraud and theft of sensitive information.
The prior art discusses various techniques for remote authentication.
General definitions for terms utilized in the pertinent art are set forth below.
Beacon is a management frame that contains all of the information about a network. In a WLAN, Beacon frames are periodically transmitted to announce the presence of the network.
BLUETOOTH technology is a standard short range radio link that operates in the unlicensed 2.4 gigaHertz band.
Code Division Multiple Access (“CDMA”) is a spread spectrum communication system used in second generation and third generation cellular networks, and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,901,307.
FTP or File Transfer Protocol is a protocol for moving files over the Internet from one computer to another.
GSM, Global System for Mobile Communications is a second generation digital cellular network.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (“HTTP”) is a set of conventions for controlling the transfer of information via the Internet from a web server computer to a client computer, and also from a client computer to a web server, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (“HTTPS”) is a communications protocol for secure communication via a network from a web server computer to a client computer, and also from a client computer to a web server by at a minimum verifying the authenticity of a web site.
Internet is the worldwide, decentralized totality of server computers and data-transmission paths which can supply information to a connected and browser-equipped client computer, and can receive and forward information entered from the client computer.
Media Access Control (MAC) Address is a unique identifier assigned to the network interface by the manufacturer.
Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI) is a 24-bit number that uniquely identifies a vendor, manufacturer, or organization on a worldwide basis. The OUI is used to help distinguish both physical devices and software, such as a network protocol, that belong to one entity from those that belong to another.
Probe Request: A frame that contains the advertisement IE for a device that is seeking to establish a connection with a proximate device.
Probe Response: A frame that contains the advertisement IE for a device. The Probe Response is sent in response to a Probe Request.
SSID (Service Set Identifier) is a 1 to 32 byte string that uniquely names a wireless local area network.
Transfer Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP”) is a protocol for moving files over the Internet.
URL or Uniform Resource Locator is an address on the World Wide Web.
User Interface or UI is the junction between a user and a computer program. An interface is a set of commands or menus through which a user communicates with a program. A command driven interface is one in which the user enter commands. A menu-driven interface is one in which the user selects command choices from various menus displayed on the screen.
Web-Browser is a complex software program, resident in a client computer, that is capable of loading and displaying text and images and exhibiting behaviors as encoded in HTML (HyperText Markup Language) from the Internet, and also from the client computer's memory. Major browsers include MICROSOFT INTERNET EXPLORER, NETSCAPE, APPLE SAFARI, MOZILLA FIREFOX, and OPERA.
Web-Server is a computer able to simultaneously manage many Internet information-exchange processes at the same time. Normally, server computers are more powerful than client computers, and are administratively and/or geographically centralized. An interactive-form information-collection process generally is controlled from a server computer, to which the sponsor of the process has access.
Wireless Application Protocol (“WAP”) is an open, global specification that empowers users with mobile wireless communication devices (such as mobile phones) to easily access data and to interact with Websites over the Internet through such mobile wireless communication device. WAP works with most wireless communication networks such as CDPD, CDMA, GSM, PDC, PHS, TDMA, FLEX, reflex, iDEN, TETRA, DECT, DataTAC, Mobitex and GRPS. WAP can be built on most operating systems including PalmOS, WINDOWS, CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, JavaOS and others.
WAP Push is defined as an encoded WAP content message delivered (pushed) to a mobile communication device which includes a link to a WAP address.
Wireless AP (access point) is a node on the wireless local area network (WLAN) that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network using Wi-Fi, or related standards.
There is a need for a mechanism that permits electronic authentication with a physical safety component.